I have a pretty good 360 and im planning on hopping it up a little bit. I plan on running an Edelbrock performer manifold, carb, water pump,valve springs, retainers, cam, and timing chain, all Edelbrock. However, Edelbrock does'nt seem to make valves for an FE engine. (Although I SWORE I saw them on the Edelbrock Website. ) Does anyone have any advice on what kind of valves,puhrods, and rocker arms to use? And Does anyone have any advice on what to run in the bottom end? I also plan on running All Mallory for my igniton, As they still make the old breaker point Distributor, and i dont want to muck aroud switching over to electronic. Any advice would be greatly appricated.
Ken Hogan


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Ken, I personally think you are looking up the wrong tree. What are you gonna use the truck for? Are you gonna race it? If you are gonna use it as a daily driver and are going to rebuild the engine, just install a 390 crank, rod, & piston setup. Cleanup the heads and grind the valves. Make sure that you have dual exhaust and forget the intake, 4 barrel and headers. I run the Mallory Unilite dist. on my truck, it has one sweet curve. My2
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John

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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

That's good advice. But what do you recomend for a cam? And if i do decide to rebulid the heads should i go stock? It already has headers on it. They came with the truck.


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Ken I will ask again, How are you going to use the truck? No one can make a recommendation if they don't know what you want.
I made my first post, because I read in it that you can't get there from here.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

I'm planning on buliding a street sleeper a godd running truck that will have plenty of power if i need it. I dont want to race it, but i do want plenty of power at the pedal.

Ken Hogan

FORD=First On Race Day

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-Apr-02 AT 05:03 PM (EST)]It looks like you're willing to spend some serious do-re-mi (all that Edelbrock gear is pricey). It also sounds like you want the ability to do a little stoplight drag racing and impress the guys at the local cruise spots. I'm assuming that you're willing to sacrifice fuel economy and towing/hauling performance for those ends.

For the kind of money you're going to spend, the best bang for your buck - BY FAR! - would come from stroking the motor. Rebuilding it with a 390 crankshaft and rods and some mid to high compression pistons would pick up a lot more power than any other mod. A 390 crankshaft and rods can be had for $200-300. While the engine is apart, you can easily do the oiling mods necessary to make it last practically forever, and change all those other things you want to change.

Forget all that Ebock stuff. That Performer manifold is $200+, and works no better than an original 4 barrel manifold from a car 390. The iron car manifolds are $5-10 at swap meets and junkyards, or you can usually get one for free just by asking at your machine shop.

If you insist on an aftermarket aluminum manifold, go with the Performer RPM or a single plane. They'll actually add some mid to high end performance that the Performer won't.

After stroking it, the next best thing to do is a good electronic ignition. MSD and Mallory stuff is nice, but a Pertronix conversion for your existing alternator is probably 98% as good, costs a lot less, and maintains that stealth appearance. Add a good coil, wires and plugs to go with it.

Your rebuild needs to include a good cam, of course, and there are no shortage of opinions on cam choices. For a street sleeper, I'd recommend the Crane 343801, which a number of people who really know (dinosaurfan, for instance) claim works great in the FE. The Desktop Dyno results in a 390 are also impressive in terms of high end power. Whatever you do, use a dual pattern cam, as the FE benefits from longer exhaust duration. Crower, Comp Cams and some others also make good dual pattern cams for the FE engines. Use the lifters and springs that your cam manufacturer recommends.

Don't mess with your valvetrain unless you really want to spend money. If so, then have Cobra Jet size valves installed along with hardened seats. The next step is to go with roller rockers, and billet rocker shafts and end supports ($$$$). They won't add much power, but they'll let you rev higher without fear of valvetrain damage. Frankly, your money would better be spent on having the heads professionally ported (and the valves unshrouded) while they are getting the bigger valves installed.

On the exhaust side, there's little question that the FE will benefit from good headers and dual exhaust. You can get probably 75-80% of the benefit, however, just with the dual exhaust. Headers add expense, heat and hassle. If you decide to go that route, though, get the best set you can afford. For your application, I'd think Sanderson headers would make the most sense.

Carb is a matter of personal choice. Demon, Holley, Edelbrock - take your pick but keep it to 750 cfm or smaller.

Don't waste your money on Edelbrock water pumps and the like. A rebuilt stock unit will be just fine. If you're worried about cooling, focus on your radiator capacity and condition, not the water pump.

Finally, I forget whether you told us what trans and rear end you have. If you have a stick, no problems. If you have an auto, you might want to get a beefed up torque converter with a somewhat higher stall speed. You'll also want rear end gearing of 3.73:1 or steeper.

 

She's got a C-6 in her as for the rear end im not too sure.
(anyone got any ideas on how to tell?) I dont plan on doing all of it in a day that's for sure. ( I dont make that much money) But As much as anyone tells me im still going to run an Edelbrock cam in her. But I still don't know what valves to use as Edlelbrock doesn't make any valves OR lifters for an FE.(I'm still running their springs though.)And as for the oil problems how do you clear them up? This is only my second FE motor and i've still got alot to learn. You fellas should really see this truck though i picked her up for $750 and shes pretty cherry for being 34 years old. Shes got some problems (Radiator mount is rusted out, drivers side cab mount is in BAD shape but i can fix that no big deal.) While im on the subject, Will any parking brake work From '67 to '72 or do i have to find another Ranger? Mines gone,but I did find the handle in the glove box.

Ken Hogan


FORD=First On Race Day

 

Why the love affair with Edelbrock? It's a brand name -- that's all. Ebock's stuff for the FE does not tend to be very good. There are much better choices, especially in cams.

 

Just a personal choice, really. Edelbrock is what ive used in the past, and its what i want to use for my 360. But just out of curiosity, what would you recommend?

Ken Hogan

FORD=First On Race Day

 

 

Ditto what Karl said, pass on the Edelbrock cam and look at something with a dual pattern. Crower offers a big selection of cams as well as several others, I'd call the tech support lines or match the cam to the rpm range you'll be running in.

Edelbrock makes a great water pump and the RPM intake is good, but I'd pass on the ed cam.

 

What about the Comp Cam 268H. Someone in another post convinced me to get that. How do u think that one is compared to others?

 

Ok, so what's the deal with the downers on Edelbrock? I've had no problems with the Performer RPM I've got, I've also got a performer cam I want to install, already bought it for $40 complete kit, never installed....So what's the prob?


I happen to be very happy with the way my truck runs, factory cam withthe E'bock Perf. RPM intake. I didn't get the plain perf, because I looked at the intake ports, and they were no bigger than stock.....

I got a gerat deal on the RPM because I only gave $100 for it & it was brand new, the guy never even fired the car off!

I did switch over to the Pertronix ignition, and haven't had any problems in the year that it's been on the truck. Only two wires to hook up, and the initial setting of the air gap for the lil' black box.... Plus for the price I couldn't beat that either, can you say $69 shipped to my door?

 

Edelbrock makes some of the best performing intakes for the FEs without a doubt. Anyone who says different just doesn't know what they are talking about but when it comes to parts that actually move they have had sort of a bad rep. I have heard of their cams going flat everyonce in a while. My buddy lost a valve and it destroyed his brand new motor over a set of edel heads. I run the edel heads and have had great luck and performance. I run the 343801 cam from Crane. I think comp cams makes great cams but for stock heads you're better off to have a dual pattern cam. That would leave the 268H out. Most of cranes hydraulic cams are dual pattern. The performer RPM is an exact copy of cranes 2nd hottest Hyd. FE cam.

 

well it's not like im going to do all this tomorrow ya know. First off I need a garage to do it in and another truck as I pland on doing a road to roof on this baby. But i will keep what you all said in mind, and when the actual time comes to buy the cam, ill make a decision based on imput from you guys. ( Ill probally still get the edelbrock though)
Ken Hogan

FORD=First On Race Day